"Mariko."
Her name. Velvet soft. Whispering over her like fingers. She looked down at his upturned face. He looked like sin. Like temptation. Like the embodiment of sensuality. For one moment, their eyes met and she was drowning, drowning in him. In her needs. In love for him. She hadn't known love could be so sharp, so terrible. So perfect or brutal.
His hands gripped her thighs, fingers digging into her flesh, and then he leaned into her and put his mouth over her center. She gasped. It was all she could do. His mouth was hot and wild, his tongue as wicked as his look had promised. Stroking. Flicking. She closed her eyes. The flicking was going to kill her. No, it was the sudden scrape of his teeth. She wanted to move away. She wanted to stay right there. Pleasure radiated through her like a starburst, yet that tension grew and grew until she wanted to scream.
Her head thrashed back and forth. His hands kept her still, but she had lost all ability to think. She could only feel. Deep inside, that tension wound even tighter. A gathering. A coiling. He had to stop. She didn't want him to ever stop. Secure in his ropes, she was completely at his mercy, and he wasn't feeling very compassionate. His mouth devoured her and his hands were lethal, fingers, by turns, kneading her buttocks and then dancing up her inner thighs to penetrate deep.
She knew she was chanting his name, but she couldn't stop, desperate for release. Her hips bucked against his mouth, grinding, trying to force him to take her where she needed to go.
His finger pushed deep, driving through silken folds. "So tight, amore, I have to get you ready."
Ready? She was already losing her mind. She was totally ready. "Please." She managed to get that one word out.
He didn't hesitate; once more his mouth was there, decisive, invasive, so perfect, sending streaks of flames racing through her, so the firestorm exploded, radiating scorching heat through her body. Her mind seemed to break free, taking her somewhere she'd never been, so that for a few moments there was only pleasure surrounding her. She floated in it, that fiery, star-laden place she'd never been but wanted to stay in – with him. Ricco.
She blinked, became aware that his hands were rubbing her bottom gently, smoothing down her thighs, and he was once again on his feet, holding her, surrounding her with his arms. She found herself smiling at him. "That was – extraordinary."
"The beginning," he corrected. "Dio, amore, you taste delicious. I could eat you up."
"I want to touch you," she admitted. "I need to touch you."
He leaned in to kiss her. She tasted herself on his tongue and it was more erotic than she thought possible.
"I want your hands on me," he said. He reached for a pair of scissors he had on a side table. "Lean into me."
She didn't have any real choice. Her legs were suddenly rubber. She was melting into him. His skin was hot and he was strong and protective. His arms went around her once more and he cut the ropes and began to massage her arms and hands. Mariko tried to stand, alarmed that he was taking her full weight.
"Just lie against me, farfallina mia. I've got you."
She wanted him to always have her. She felt safer with him, even tied, than she'd ever felt with any other human being. Her bare breasts pressed into his chest. Already she felt a million little sparks leaping from his skin to hers. Now it was even more so. Her nipples brushed over his heavy muscles, and ripples of fire spread straight to her sex.
Her entire body shuddered as his hands gently massaged her arms and hands. There were no pins and needles, nothing to say she'd been tied for a little while. He was that careful where he'd laid the ropes. Still, she groaned when he gently pulled first one arm and then the other from behind her to wrap around him.
"I'm going to pick you up."
Immediately alarm spread through her. She'd been feeling beautiful and sexy until she heard Osamu's voice in her head. You're big and ugly. You should bind your big feet and breasts so you don't knock into things. You're clumsy and a complete embarrassment. Stay in your room when we have company.
One arm slid around her back, the other her knees. He lifted her easily, without seeming effort, cradling her almost tenderly against his chest. "Look at me, Mariko."
She curled into him, both for strength and to hide her body just a little from his dark, piercing gaze. He could see through shadows. Into them. Beyond them. He could see into her mind. She lifted her gaze to his and instantly desire poured into her again. It was there in his eyes. So much she was drowning in it.
"Stay with me, Mariko. Don't go there. Not ever again. She has no place here. Not in this room and not in this house. I want you to throw her out of your head and hear and see only me. Look at yourself the way I see you, not her. Do you need me to show you the images in the camera? When you see them, you'll see only beauty."